Memoirs are popular reading around the globe and extending the reach of your story beyond family and friends can be a good option in some cases. I’ve been traveling the last few days but wanted to be sure to get this and some other tips out to you at the start of the year. And not just any year, a new decade!
Many of you have decided that this will be the year to make progress on your story. Perhaps you’ve realized that time is extra precious for your 90 year old grandparents and you want to help them tell theirs. Whatever the case — I want to encourage you, you can do this!
A couple weeks ago Lisa J. Michaels, teacher, illustrator and author at www.theartofpicturebooks.com, sent me a note:
“I found this link and I thought I’d share it with your readers, as it is a list of publishers who accept manuscripts from authors without agents….”
Thanks for sharing this resource, Lisa! Remember, if you’re like many memoirists, you also have a couple great children’s book ideas floating around in your mental inbox or languishing in your desk. Just for inspirational fun check out Lisa’s series on children’s book creation via Skillshare. The first in the series is Creating Characters Kids Love
Wouldn’t it be great to finally create that book as a gift for your kids and grandkids?
Want to kick start your journaling this year? Try author and teacher Nina Vangrew’s One Sentence a Day Journal Card System. It’s fun and this easy to build habit will painlessly help you build your memoir a bit at a time. Ideas and story snippets add up fast! You can easily take her class in less than an hour on Skillshare and enjoy starting your life story journaling.
The publishing world is full of memoirs with a variety of themes appealing to a wide range of people. I love reading them and typically have several in my line-up for the year. Your story may have broader appeal that would be a great fit for making public so many others can enjoy it.
Many memoir writers consider independent or self-publishing to be an excellent choice. This gives you full creative control and you’ll have the option to publish it privately for family and friends, or list it on Amazon or through other book outlets.
At the start of this new decade consider reviewing a few options to make progress on your personal history project:
- Take a look at the list of publishers in the link Lisa provided
- Try out Nina’s one sentence journaling technique
- Spend half an hour watching my class — It’s Time to Tell Your Story: Quick Start a Memoir
- Sign up for a memoir coaching session
- Set up your memoir box to start collecting your material
Start small or go big, the choice is yours! But whatever you do, commit to making some positive incremental change and see how much you can accomplish this year. Even better, team up with some friends for encouragement.
Karen